The King’s Man (2021)
With the promise of this being an extension of the two Kingsman films we have already seen, this movie was suppose to shed light on the organisation and tell us why or how is came into fruition but instead this film felt confused. The story didn’t know it’s own direction and almost felt lost, it was too layered with several different narratives all happening at once, it was overwhelming and too busy. The kingsman movies were full of life and completely original, the narratives didn’t fly too close to reality and the characters were fully developed and likeable.
The King’s Man (2021) didn’t quite harness the essence of the original movies, it felt like a filler film, it felt like it was scrambling to tie together loose ends and fill in gaps that didn’t need to be justified. The film was confused from the beginning, with minimal stylised fight scenes and barely any humour this film was battling with itself. The narrative felt split into two, one being slow, dull scenes of our ‘villain’ and the other being powerful, unnecessary war scenes. The subject matter tried to merge two very opposing themes that in no way worked together, the battle scenes were cinematic and enticing but weren’t expected and felt out of place. The scenes with our ‘villains’ were boring and too secretive, we needed more explanation and more of a chance to see each villain… or they could have simply concentrated on less villains. Rasputin, from the trailer, appeared to be the primary threat but instead lasted a few minutes, his character should have been utilised more. Rasputin’s scenes were odd yet intriguing, Rhys Ifans was unrecognisable and I personally think he did a fantastic job.
Casting - although the film didn’t have the same chemistry as the original movies I still felt as though Ralph Fiennes and Harris Dickinson made a charming father, son duo.
Soundtrack - the songs, again not as strong as it’s predecessors, were well chosen and complimented the fight scenes.
Rhys Ifans brought a memorable performance, it was strange and almost uncomfortable at times but he truly made an impression on screen and I thank him for injecting something unique into this film.
Narrative - overall the plot was confused and felt decided, the beginning middle and end of the film all felt like completely different movies. It didn’t flow well and the character journeys were poor and undeveloped.
Fight sequences - The Kingsman movies became iconic for their fight scenes and clever camera work, this movie appeared to use barely any of these unique techniques and played it very dull. None of the fight scenes were particularly ground breaking (Rasputin’s scene was the only memorable moment).
Overall, I expected a lot from The King’s Man, this film could have gone in several different directions but instead it left me feeling unimpressed. The original films set the bar so high, almost too high, this film had very big shoes to fill. I can’t imagine myself enjoying a sequel (which they inevitably set themselves up for), I hope they take this film in a new direction. Bring back the iconic fight scenes, bring back the dramatic characters and soundtrack, this film doesn’t need to be realistic, one of the best elements of a spy movie is the campy, electorate, dramatic version of reality. We need to see this film elevated, overly dramatised and overly enthused.
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